ESOL ASSIGNMENTS

ESOL Assignments

ESOL Assignments

Unit 3 Mod 1b: Task 1

The recent national emphasis on formal standards for the English language arts is of particular interest to curriculum planners seeking to promote equitable instruction tot students who are learning English as a second or new language. In this article we concur with those who argue that efforts to develop standards and model programs of study are well motivated for several reasons. First, there is a need to ensure that there is a well-defined curriculum of English for Speakers of other languages (ESOL). English language development (ELD) needs to be guided by specific goals and standards for the traditional skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, there is also a need for a formal plan that articulates the ELD curriculum with the rest of the academic curriculum. Such a plan needs to include an assessment of the English language demands associated with the mastery of traditional subject areas because English learners face the dual task of both learning English and using English to learn. Thus, an explication of the relationship between English and academic content mediated by English as the language of instruction is essential. Last, standards are needed to ensure that expectations for achievement among language minority students are equal to those for all other students.

There are several areas of ambiguity that arise in discussions of standards generally. Consideration of the use of content standards in the curriculum planning process necessarily involves the issues of assessment and evaluation. The distinction between content standards and performance standards is a subtle one. Content standards are designed to define what a student is to be able to know or do. Performance standards are intended to specify how well the students achieve the standard and at what level of performance they are able to achieve it. A student's level of performance is evaluated in terms of benchmarks. Performance standards also specify the method by which students will achieve them (Teachers of English to Speaker of Other Languages, 1997).

In the landmark Lau v. Nichols decision it became axiomatic that students cannot be expected to participate in English mediated content instruction if they have not had opportunities to develop their English to a level that allows for equitable learning in the broader curriculum (Art Research & Curriculum Associates, 1996; Norgren & Nada, 1988):

Basic English skills are at the very core of what these public schools teach. Imposition of a requirement that, before a child can effectively participate in the educational program, he must have already acquired those basic skills is to make a mockery of public education. We know that those who do not understand English are certain to find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible and in no way meaningful. [Lau v. Nichols 414 U.S., 563-572]

Unfortunately, language diversity often has been considered a problem rather than a resource (Ruiz, 1984), and bilingualism and bidialectism have inappropriately been seen as causes of cognitive deficiencies among students (Baker, 1996; Hakuta, 1986; Trueba, 1989; Wiley, 1996a; ...